Salem Witch Trial Essay

The Salem Witch Trials occurred during a time where tensions were high and strong Puritanical beliefs ruled the way of thinking. Salem-Village was a relatively isolate area, being far enough away from any other town that they had to travel to the town of Salem a few miles away through the woods just to be able to go to church. This seclusion led to mass paranoia and a fear that they were in constant danger of the devil’s influence. The fears brought about by these circumstances caused a massive witch hunt incited by the accusations against several inhabitants, mainly by a small group of young girls claiming to have been tortured or bewitched by various villagers. By the end of trials, hundreds of people had been accused and twenty had been

Why do you not tell us the truth? Why do you thus torment these poor children?” , were framed in a way to force her to admit her guilt and did not even seem to consider the fact that she may have been innocent. She always claimed her innocence and said repeatedly that she never harmed anyone or had any contact with the devil, but these claims fell on deaf ears of the very Puritanical and paranoid villagers. The recorder of the examination, Ezekiel Cheever, even went so far as to make note of how evil she sounded while on trial, saying “Her answers were in a very wicked, spiteful manner, reflecting and retorting against the authority with base and abusive words, and many lies she was taken in” . While being questioned about what she had been muttering under her breath while seen leaving a neighbor’s house, she claimed that she was reciting the commandments, but when asked to repeat it for the court she was unable to, only managing to recite a small portion of it, which onlookers took as a clear sign that she was guilty. Despite not having any tangible evidence against her, there was enough verbal testimony against her, that she never had a chance to convince anyone of her innocence. Even her own family testified and provided ‘evidence’ to convince people that she was a witch. A few quotes from Ezekiel Cheever from his

She is representative of the accused because she targeted by her accusers because of her nonconformity and other differences from the rest of the Salem-Village residents. the accusations that were being thrown around during the Salem Witch Trials were never actually anything tangible, relying primarily on the allegations made by a group of about ten young girls. Nevertheless, these accusations were immediately believed and were rarely questioned. If they were questioned, like in the case of John Willard, the person was automatically viewed as suspicious and were brought to trial. Anyone could be targeted based on their economic status, nonconformity to the religious views of the village, or simply because they were not well liked within the community. Sarah Good was targeted due to her status as a pregnant beggar who was known to ask her neighbors for help. She was also accused of rejecting the puritanical expectations held by the people of Salem-Village. She is representative of the larger group of the accused because all of them were disliked or looked on as lesser by their neighbors. Even though the only claims against the accused were that the accusers saw an ‘apparition’ or spirit they had believed to be Sarah Good or Osborne, or